Oscar nods

January 22, 2009

Leading the list, with thirteen Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, is “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” It was the best Hollywood movie of 2008—sometimes the awards get it right. And sometimes they don’t: nothing for “Gran Torino,” not even a Best-Actor nomination for Clint Eastwood? (I was glad to see the unfairly overlooked “Changeling” show up on the list in a few categories, including Best Actress for Angelina Jolie.) Question: when was the last time a married couple got best actor-and-actress nominations? Has any couple ever won? If so, for different movies? And if anyone doubts the enduring influence of the “auteur theory,” note that the five movies up for best picture—“Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” and “Slumdog Millionaire”—provide the five nominees for Best Director: David Fincher, Ron Howard, Gus Van Sant, Stephen Daldry, and Danny Boyle.